U.S. 278 widening nears completion

The widening of U.S. 278 in Bluffton from four lanes to six lanes is nearing completion, according to Beaufort County and South Carolina Department of Transportation officials.

Beaufort County public information officer Joy Nelson said Wednesday all construction on the project will be completed by the beginning of next year, but all six lanes of the road will be open by Thanksgiving.

"The good news is that the third lane on the east and westbound sides will be open," Nelson said. "This is being done in stages, but there's not a lot left to do. A little more paving needs to be done on both sides of the Okatie River bridge, and a water filter system underneath the bridge needs to be finished. "That's the last piece, and once DOT has cleaned up all debris from the shoulders, they will pick all the cones up."

Construction on the project, which widens a 5-mile stretch of U.S. 278 from its intersection with S.C. 170 in Okatie to Simmonsville Road in Bluffton, began in November 2011 to match the six lanes from Simmonsville Road east to Moss Creek. The $23.6 million project is being paid for with a combination of federal, county and state money. The county's share stems from a 1 percent sales tax for transportation projects that was approved by voters in a 2006 referendum.

Safety concerns

Not everyone is pleased with the results of the widening. Officials and members of a church located off the north side of the highway have expressed safety concerns with exiting off the highway into the parking lot.

Gerry Thornton, who has attended St. Gregory's Catholic Church since he moved to Bluffton six years ago, said he is worried drivers approaching the church from the west are at risk for an accident because they now have to make a U-turn into three lanes of oncoming traffic to access the parking lot.

Drivers can only access the church from the east now because a crossover median was closed last month. Conversely, drivers exiting the church and wanting to travel east must now turn right out of the parking lot, shift over quickly to the farthest left lane and make a U-turn at the nearby intersection of 278 and Buckwalter Parkway.

"Now that there's three lanes, there's more traffic and everyone is driving 60 mph, and that creates a very dangerous situation," Thornton said. "When there's traffic, it's already difficult enough to get over. People are already backed up because only four or five cars can make that U-turn at once. Someone is going to get seriously hurt one day."

St. Gregory's parish manager Joseph Ruoto said the church asked the DOT to close the median after a deceleration lane on each side of the highway was eliminated.

"People were having difficulty crossing over, and it had just become too dangerous," Ruoto said.

The church has more than 8,000 parishioners and holds seven weekend masses. Ruoto said the church will hold about 850 parishioners at once and all of the masses, especially the ones at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays, are well-attended.

"There are a lot of people coming out of that parking lot, and we're really concerned about the safety of our parishioners," Ruoto said. "We need a solution."

Solutions proposed

Solutions have been proposed by the church and county to eliminate the need for drivers to make U-turns.

The county since 2007 has proposed a frontage road that would extend east from the Bluffton Township Fire District station on 278, past the church and west into the Berkeley Hall community, which owns that portion of land. That road would divert traffic to the light at the intersection of 278 and Buckwalter.

Nelson said the matter is in litigation between the county and Berkeley Hall, and the neighborhood's residents will take a vote on the matter next month.

"If (Berkeley Hall) decides to drop the litigation, the county will immediately move forward with construction on this project," she said.

Church representatives met with county and DOT officials last week to discuss the frontage road. Ruoto said the church would like the road completed at least from the church to the fire station as soon as possible, whether or not the Berkeley Hall portion remains in litigation.

Nelson said the county would rather do the entire road at once for safety and logistical reasons.

"It's the county's position that in order to provide the maximum anticipated safety and capacity benefits possible, the frontage road needs to run from Berkeley Hall to the fire station," she said.

In the meantime, Ruoto said the church is looking at building an additional parking lot on the east side of the church and a separate connector road on its property to divert traffic toward the fire station.

"That area is on kind of a dirt road and currently has space for about 50 cars," Ruoto said. "We've hired an engineering firm to expand that and help us with the design of the connector road.

"But our hope is that the county will move forward with this frontage road and once it's built, that should make things better."

A similar situation arose last year when the DOT shut down two left-turn medians connecting Island West and surrounding neighborhoods with both sides of 278 as part of the widening project. A proposal to build a traffic light at the intersection of Hampton Parkway and 278 was unanimously approved by the county's Public Facilities Committee last week and will be voted on Monday by County Council.

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